Mayor Jerry Sanders campaigned for an initiative to raise the city's sales tax last fall by saying that without the extra revenue, the city might have to lay off more than 200 firefighters and police. The initiative failed, but police and firefighters are still there.

When news broke last summer that the city manager of the tiny California city of Bell earned twice the salary of the President of the United States, it set off a firestorm of public outrage. A team of reporters at the Los Angeles Times spent weeks uncovering the story. This week the LA Times was awarded the Pulitzer for public service reporting for this series.

A measure that would impose a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks will get its first hearing in the California legislature on Monday. A new report finds the tax would generate $1.7 billion a year to fight obesity.